THE latest three-generation living approach by the Housing Board (HDB) looks set to continue, given the number of young families with elderly members who applied for September's offerings.

Noting the positive response on his blog, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said: "The launch of 3Gen flats has clearly encouraged more to consider multi-generation living. This is a good sign.

"We should continue to facilitate multi-generation living for Singaporeans who wish to do so."

The HDB had offered only 84 three-generation units in Yishun, as it was "not sure of demand" then.

But a third of the 1,152 applications for three-generation units and five-room flats were from multi-generation households.

This is in stark contrast to last year, when only 3% of five-room flat applicants applied to live with their parents under the Married Child Priority Scheme, wrote Khaw.

The three-generation units are a new type of flat offered by the HDB.

They have four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and are 5 sq m larger than current five-room units.

The Housing Board bundled the three-generation flats and five-room units so that applicants would have an "alternative housing option" if one type ran out, Khaw said.

ASEAN nations must cooperate to strengthen their defences against hackers, which threatened several member states in the past two weeks, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

"We must not condone such malicious and harmful behaviour," he said, at the opening of the13th Asean Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministers Meeting (Telmin) yesterday. The annual meeting promotes regional cooperation in infocomm efforts to strengthen regional economies and social development.

Hackers compromised websites in Thailand, Philippines and Singapore over the past two weeks. Malaysia and Indonesia were also targets.

"We must strengthen our defences and cooperate to deal with these common threats," he said.

Singapore has arrested some of the people suspected in connection to the hacking incidents in Singapore. Condemning these acts as a crime, Lee said: "It is not a prank when someone hacks websites and intrudes into computer systems ... At a minimum it inconveniences the public, but potentially it has much graver consequences; it can damage infrastructure and endanger lives."

This happens when the electricity grid or a hospital management system fails to work. He also urged citizens to speak up against such acts, and express their disapproval of those responsible, or others who have supported the perpetrators.

In his opening address, Lee also touched on the need for Asean countries to "accelerate" the harmonisation of airwaves in the 700MHz band, currently used for TV broadcasting, so they can be recycled for mobile broadband purposes.

By agreeing on a common spectrum, regional mobile roaming can take place with minimal signal interference along coast lines.

So far, four out of eight Asean member nations – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore – have committed to the plan to use the 700MHz spectrum, expected to be freed up when the switch from analogue to digital TV broadcasting takes place over the next few years. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

PATNA, India, Nov 14, 2013 (AFP) - India's Mahabodhi temple, one of the world's holiest Buddhist shrines, is to have its dome inlaid with 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of gold donated by Thailand's king and other devotees, officials said Thursday.

The precious metal arrived late Monday on a special flight from Bangkok and is under armed guard at the temple in Bodh Gaya, a holy town about 100 kilometres (64 miles) from Patna, the capital of Bihar state.

"A 40-member team including experts and two dozen commandos from Thailand have arrived at Bodh Gaya with gold in 13 boxes," Arvind Kumar Singh, a member of the temple management committee, told AFP.

The gold would be worth around $14.5 million at the current international price.

The work at the complex, which was rocked by a series of crude bombs in July, was likely to be finished in about a month.

The Mahabodhi temple, built about 1,500 years ago, is a UNESCO world heritage site and marks the place where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment in 531 BC.

Along with temples, dozens of monasteries housing monks from around the world are located near the complex which has a celebrated 80-feet-tall (24-metre) statue of the Buddha.

After his meditations beneath a holy tree, the Buddha is said to have devoted the rest of his life to teaching.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama makes frequent trips to the complex, which attracts visitors during the peak tourist season from October to March.

N. Dorjee, secretary of the temple committee, said about 100 kg of gold had been donated by the Thai king and the rest by Buddhist devotees.

The decision to offer gold for the dome was taken last year by Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej after which permission was sought from the local authorities, Dorjee said.

"The first phase of the work involved chemical treatment which was completed in August. It prepared the foundation for gold plating," he told AFP.

"Stairs have been now installed around the temple's dome to enable experts to reach the top of the structure and inlay it with thin gold sheets."

In July nine small bombs exploded at the temple complex, wounding two monks.

The blasts were allegedly carried out by the Indian Mujahideen, a home-grown extremist group, in retaliation for violence against Muslims by Buddhists in neighbouring Myanmar.

Gaya district magistrate Bala Murugan D. said extra security had been provided at the temple complex to ensure the smooth progress of the gold-inlaying work.

"We have deployed additional security. The work is also being videographed as after all it involves a costly metal," he said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought to reassure sceptical U.S. lawmakers on Thursday that any easing of sanctions on Iran that emerges from negotiations could easily be reversed and "ramped back up" if Tehran fails to curb its nuclear program.

In his most direct appeal yet for more time to pursue a diplomatic deal with Iran, Obama urged Congress to hold off on imposing any new sanctions despite concerns on Capitol Hill and among U.S. allies Israel and Saudi Arabia that he is giving away too much.

Obama spoke a day after Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and other top U.S. officials warned senators that implementing new sanctions could scuttle the delicate negotiations between Iran and six world powers due to resume in Geneva next Wednesday.

Some lawmakers said after Wednesday's meetings they were not convinced, and there was no immediate sign that Obama - seeking better ties with Iran after more than three decades of estrangement - had won converts on Thursday either.

"If we're serious about pursuing diplomacy, then there's no need for us to add new sanctions on top of the sanctions that are already very effective, and that brought them (the Iranians) to the table in the first place," Obama told a White House news conference.

"Now, if it turns out they can't deliver, they can't come to the table in a serious way and get this issue resolved, the sanctions can be ramped back up," he said.

An initial agreement seemed close last week, when Kerry made an unexpected trip to the talks in Switzerland. But the negotiators failed to reach a deal and are returning for another round of talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Wednesday that a "bad deal" with Iran could lead to war. His aides challenged U.S. assertions that Iran was being offered only limited relief from sanctions.

Underscoring the many obstacles, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel staunchly defended Obama's approach. "I felt sorry for Secretary Kerry because so many people have jumped into this (saying), 'Well he didn't get anything and he didn't get a deal.' Wait a minute!" Hagel told a defense conference.

"We have political issues. Our partners have political issues," he said. "So this is going to take time if we're going to be able to move to somewhere onto a higher ... plain of possibility."

OBAMA ANSWERS CRITICS

At the White House, Obama sought to answer critics who accuse him of preparing to ease sanctions prematurely. He said that in return for Iran's agreement in a "phase-one" deal to halt its nuclear advances, "we would provide very modest relief at the margins of the sanctions that we've set up."

"But importantly, we would leave in place the core sanctions that are most effective and have most impact on the Iranian economy, specifically oil sanctions and sanctions with respect to banks and financing," he added.

Obama said that would give world powers a chance to test how serious Tehran is about negotiating a final deal to dispel Western suspicions that it wants to develop a nuclear weapon, something Tehran denies it is seeking.

"It also gives us an assurance that if it turns out six months from now that they're not serious," he said, "we can dial those sanctions right back up."

Speaking later to a Washington think tank, Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser, said continued enforcement of the bulk of existing sanctions would mean that "the amount of revenue that Iran will lose during the next six months would far exceed any amounts of relief they might obtain as part of a first-step agreement."

Obama reiterated that he was leaving "all options on the table" for dealing with Iran - diplomatic code for possible military action. But he warned of "unintended consequences" from any military conflict.

Obama is facing resistance from lawmakers wary of letting up the pressure in negotiations with Iran.

"Sanctions remain the best way to avoid war and prevent a future of Iranian nuclear weapons," said Senator Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois.

Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican and frequent harsh critic of Obama's foreign policy, expressed scepticism about the Geneva talks and said the Senate Banking Committee should move ahead with consideration of new sanctions.

But he told Reuters: "I'm not so hell-bent on enacting additional sanctions (by the full Senate), although I think they're entirely called for. But I am willing to give them a period of time."

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed its version of a new sanctions bill on July 31, just days before Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, took office. Rouhani was elected in June on a platform of conciliation, saying he wanted to ease Iran's international isolation.

Senators have been debating behind closed doors their version of the bill, which could slash Iran's oil exports to no more than 500,000 barrels a day. However the banking committee acts, some senators said they might sidestep the panel and insert tough new Iran sanctions into the annual defense authorization bill, which Obama might find hard to veto.

AMMAN (Reuters) - A Syrian rebel commander in a main Islamist brigade was killed and two others were injured in an air strike by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on Aleppo, activists said on Friday, in a setback to rebels defending the city against a loyalist attack.

Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub and most populous city before the uprising against Assad erupted in 2011, has been witnessing heavy fighting since Assad's forces, backed by Shi'ite militia from Iraq and the Lebanese party Hezbollah, launched an offensive two weeks ago to retake rebel-held areas in the city.

The opposition Aleppo News Network said in a statement that the raid on Thursday targeted an army base that rebels had captured, killing commander Youssef al-Abbas of the Qatari-backed al-Tawhid Brigades, one of the biggest armed opposition groups.

Abbas was known by the nom de guerre Abu al-Tayyeb.

Tawhid's leadership was holding a meeting in the base when the raid occurred, the statement said.

It said Tawhid's head, Abdelqader Saleh, was injured and taken to a hospital in Turkey, 45 kms (28 miles) to the north, along with Abdelaziz al-Salameh, another top commander. Both were in good condition, the statement said.

The report could not be independently confirmed.

Video footage taken by activists showed the body of Abu al-Tayyeb after being transported to his hometown of Mareh in the countryside north of Aleppo. His father was shown kissing the body and crying.

Al-Tawhid issued a statement earlier this week, along with other Islamist formations that included al-Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate, declaring a emergency and summoning all fighters to head to the fronts.

Opposition activists said the declaration was an indication of how grave rebels regarded the possibility of Assad, boosted by his Shi'ite militia allies and Iran, wresting back Aleppo.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday his group will keep fighting in Syria alongside Assad's forces as long as necessary.

The conflict has polarised the Middle East between Sunni Muslim powers such as Turkey and the Gulf Arab states, who support the Sunni rebels, and Shi'ite Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Assad belongs to Syria's Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that has controlled the country since the 1960s by dominating the army and security apparatus. Assad's father had forged a now weakened alliance with the Sunni merchant class in Aleppo and Damascus and with Sunni tribes in the east of the country.

TACLOBAN, Philippines (Reuters) - The death toll from a powerful typhoon doubled overnight in one Philippine city alone, reaching 4,000, as helicopters from a U.S. aircraft carrier and other naval ships began flying food, water and medical teams to ravaged regions on Friday.

President Benigno Aquino has faced mounting pressure to speed up the distribution of aid and also come under criticism over unclear estimates of casualties, especially in Tacloban, capital of hardest-hit Leyte province.

A notice board in Tacloban City Hall estimated the deaths at 4,000, up from 2,000 a day before. The toll, written in blue marker on a whiteboard easel, is compiled by local officials who started burying bodies in a mass grave on Thursday.

Tacloban mayor Alfred Romualdez said some people may have been swept out to sea and their bodies lost after a tsunami-like wall of seawater slammed into coastal areas. One neighbourhood had a population of between 10,000 and 12,000, and now was completely deserted, he said.

The City Hall toll is the first public acknowledgement that the number of fatalities would likely far exceed an estimate given this week by Aquino, who said the loss of life from Typhoon Haiyan would be closer to 2,000 or 2,500.

Official confirmed deaths nationwide stood at 2,357 on Friday after the typhoon, one of the strongest ever recorded, roared across the central Philippines a week ago. Adding to the confusion, the United Nations, citing government figures, put the latest overall death toll at 4,460.

On Tuesday, Aquino said estimates of 10,000 dead by local officials were overstated and caused by "emotional trauma". Elmer Soria, a regional police chief who made that estimate to media, was removed from his post on Thursday.

A police spokesman said Soria was due to be transferred to headquarters in Manila. But a senior police official told Reuters he believed Soria was re-assigned because of his unauthorised casualty estimate.

U.S. HELICOPTERS TO AID RELIEF EFFORT

Survivors have grown increasingly desperate and angry over the pace of aid distribution, which has been hindered by paralysed local governments, widespread looting, a lack of fuel for rescue vehicles and debris-choked roads.

The dead are still being buried. Many corpses remain uncovered on roadsides or under splintered homes.

Foreign aid officials have called the disaster unprecedented for the Philippines.

"There is utter devastation. People are desperate for food, water, shelter, supplies and information about their loved ones," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters on Thursday during a visit to Latvia.

"We are doing everything possible to rush assistance to those who need it. Now is the time for the international community to stand with the people of the Philippines."

The nuclear-powered USS George Washington aircraft carrier and accompanying ships arrived off eastern Samar province on Thursday evening, carrying 5,000 crew and more than 80 aircraft.

The carrier moved some fixed-wing aircraft ashore to make more room for the helicopters on its flight deck.

"One of the best capabilities the strike group brings is our 21 helicopters," commander Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery said in a statement. "These helicopters represent a good deal of lift to move emergency supplies around."

U.S. sailors have brought food and water ashore in Tacloban and the town of Guiuan.

The carrier is moored near where U.S. General Douglas MacArthur's force of 174,000 men landed on October 20, 1944, in one of the biggest Allied victories of World War Two.

Another U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, led a massive aid operation off Indonesia's Aceh province after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.

Aquino has been on the defensive over his handling of the storm, given warnings of its projected strength and the risk of a storm surge, and now the pace of relief efforts.

He has said the death toll might have been higher had it not been for the evacuation of people and the readying of relief supplies, but survivors say they had little warning of any seawater surge.

Tacloban city administrator Tecson John Lim, who on Sunday also estimated 10,000 likely died, said Aquino may be deliberately downplaying casualties.

"Of course he doesn't want to create too much panic. Perhaps he is grappling with whether he wants to reduce the panic so that life goes on," he said.

The preliminary number of missing as of Thursday, according to the Red Cross, remained at 22,000. That could include people who have since been located, it has said.

'WHO IS IN CHARGE?'

Tacloban's main convention centre, the Astrodome, has become a temporary home for hundreds of people living in squalor. Families cooked meals amid the stench of garbage and urine. Debris was strewn along rows of seats rising from dark pools of stagnant water.

"We went into the Astrodome and asked who is in charge and just got blank stares," said Joe Lowry, a spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration, which is setting up camps for the displaced.

Survivors formed long lines under searing sunshine, and then torrential rain, to charge mobile phones from the only power source available - a city hall generator. Others started to repair motorbikes and homes. A rescue worker cleared debris near a wall with the spray-painted words: "We need food".

Outside Tacloban, burials began for about 300 bodies in a mass grave on Thursday. A larger grave will be dug for 1,000, Lim said.

The city government remains paralysed, with an average of just 70 workers on duty, compared with 2,500 normally, he added. Many were killed, injured, lost family or were too overcome with grief to work.

More than 920,000 people have been displaced, the United Nations said. But many areas still have not received aid.

"It's true, there are still areas that we have not been able to get to where people are in desperate need," U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told reporters in Manila. "I very much hope that in the next 48 hours, that will change significantly.

"Yes, I do feel that we have let people down because we have not been able to get in more quickly."

(Additional reporting by Rosemarie Francisco and Eric dela Cruz in Manila, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Phil Stewart in Washington, Greg Torode in Hong Kong and Aija Krūtaine in Latvia. Writing by Jason Szep. Editing by Dean Yates)

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TOKYO: Japanese companies are enthusiastic about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic-growth plans, although they remain cautious about boosting wages or investment – two elements that are key to securing a sustainable recovery, a Reuters survey showed.

The Japan Inc brownie points for Abe come nearly exactly one year after he jolted financial markets with an election campaign that promised bold policies and then followed through with massive monetary easing and hefty fiscal spending.

Companies are now enamoured with the potential of the third stage in "Abenomics" – a planned slew of reforms encompassing tax, labour and deregulation, saying they are hopeful the measures will provide a catalyst for change.

"We are not in complete agreement, but we feel that just creating the sense that business conditions are improving is a step forward," wrote an executive at a metals and machinery firm.

That sentiment was echoed by many firms in the Reuters Corporate Survey, which showed nearly three-fourths of the 247 companies answering a question on Abe's growth strategy said it was "commendable" or "very commendable".

Abe's monetary and fiscal policies aimed at breaking a 15-year run of deflation and tepid growth helped lift Tokyo stocks 72% and push the yen down 20% over the past year.

In recent months, however, financial markets have greeted Abe's longer-term growth strategy with more scepticism, believing many of the reform measures will be watered down.

A GLASS ONE-QUARTER FULL

The survey showed it was much less clear how far Japan Inc will follow through with action that Abe's policies are designed to spur.

About one-fourth of the companies in the survey, conducted from Oct 25 to Nov 11, said they will boost capital spending – a result that underlines that some progress has been made.

"The biggest change from a year ago is that firm's outlooks for the future have gotten brighter, the biggest part of that being that many have increased their capital investment plans," said Akihiro Morishige, an economist at Mitsubishi Research Institute who reviewed the poll results.

But at the same time, that one quarter of companies is not enough to ensure a lasting recovery and recent business investment figures have been disappointing.

Capital spending has climbed for three straight quarters but only showed growth of 0.2% in July-September, well below expectations, while core machinery orders, a key predictor of capital spending, fell more than expected in September, data this week showed.

In response to the same question on how business plans may change – a question that allowed for multiple answers – one quarter of companies also said they plan to strengthen their domestic businesses, another small feather for the Abenomics cap.

But just 8% said they would raise wages. The portion of companies that plans to lift their number of permanent employees was also only 8%.

HARD TO ENACT

The mixed results come as Abe struggles to deliver on his growth strategy, key parts of which are currently before parliament.

He watered down a plan to cut Japan's corporate tax rate, making it a longer-term goal, on resistance from the Finance Ministry, which is trying to rein in the country's runaway debt.

A plan to create "special zones" where firms can enjoy tax breaks and exemptions from regulations also faced resistance. A provision to relax labour rules in the proposed zones, making it easier for companies to lay off employees, faltered after an outcry from media and labour unions that it would undermine Japan's highly prized job security.

One unambiguous success for Abenomics has been the yen – which has weakened to around 100 yen to the dollar from 79 yen a year ago, making Japan's exports more profitable and inflating the value of overseas earnings in terms of the local currency.

Just over half the companies in the Reuters survey said they prefer the yen to trade around current levels with a further one-fourth favouring a slightly stronger yen. Over 60% forecast the yen will stabilise around current levels for the six months to March.

The poll was taken alongside the monthly Reuters Tankan survey, which showed on Thursday that confidence among Japanese firms rose for the first time in three months in November and is seen improving further over the next three months.

The corporate survey, which is conducted by Nikkei Research for Reuters, polls upper management at 400 companies each capitalised at more than 1 billion yen. The firms, split evenly between manufacturers and non-manufacturers, provide responses on condition of anonymity – Reuters.

TOKYO: Nearly 90% of Japanese firms expect consumer inflation to fall short of the central bank's 2% goal in the next fiscal year, a Reuters survey showed on Friday, adding weight to the argument of many analysts who say the target is too ambitious.

Seeking to help Japan escape 15 years of grinding deflation, the Bank of Japan offered an intense burst of monetary stimulus in April, pledging to double the supply of money to the achieve the 2% goal.

Inflation has gradually picked up with core consumer prices up 0.7 % in the year to September, although most of the increase was due to rising fuel prices and a weak yen that inflates the cost of raw material imports.

The Reuters Corporate Survey showed that half of the 235 firms that responded to the question on inflation said inflation was likely to range between 0.5% and 1.5% in the business year beginning in April 2014.

But a significant portion of respondents did not see even that, with nearly 40% saying they expect inflation to range from negative levels to about 0.5%.

If the Bank of Japan's policies work as expected, companies will be discouraged from holding onto their huge piles of cash and nudged into boosting spending on investment and wages, officials at the central bank say.

But the survey, conducted Oct 25 and Nov 11, also showed only a quarter of companies planning to increase capital spending and just 8% thinking of raising wages, further suggesting that many are not yet convinced Japan will make a decisive end to deflation.

"We have ample cash for now, so the BoJ's policy doesn't affect our business operations much," said an executive at an electric machinery maker in the survey.

In its most recent forecasts issued last month, the BoJ projects core consumer inflation of 1.3% next fiscal year and 1.9% in fiscal 2015.

But even some within the BoJ's board side with many private-sector analysts who say the 2% price goal and its time frame of trying to achieve it in two years are too ambitious.

Some market participants believe the central bank may be forced to ease monetary policy further next April, when the economy faces headwinds from a national sales tax hike and when the bank needs to issue new quarterly projections – Reuters.

At 10.16am, its shares rose four sen to RM1.36 with 7.77 million shares done between RM1.34 and RM1.38.

The FBM KLCI rose 3.59 to 1,787.79. Turnover was 350.8 million valued at RM249.91mil. There were 248 gainers, 191 decliners and 278 counters unchanged.

StarBiz had on Tuesday reported oil and gas players are going after Petronas' Pan Malaysia transportation and installation (T&I) tenders, which would most likely be awarded by end-2013.

The report said "while SapuraKencana has also bid for Packages A and B, it is believed that GOM Resources is the frontrunner for the shallow-water Package B, while Package A is being battled out between newly listed Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd's PBJV Group and Target Energy".

Petronas has applied caps of RM900,000 per day on the operating day rates for Packages A and B, RM1mil per day for Packages C and D, and RM1.2mil per day for Package E.

Based on this, Alliance Research estimates that Packages C, D, and E could be worth RM3bil to RM3.5bil, assuming a three-year term.

PETALING JAYA: The Government is donating US$1mil (RM3.2mil) to relief efforts in the Philippines after parts of the country were devastated by typhoon Haiyan, said Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin.

He said the aid was approved by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at a meeting with the Foreign Ministry and related agencies, including the National Security Council.

Apart from that, Malaysia is also donating essential items such as food and medicine worth RM1mil through the 1Malaysia Putera Club (KP1M), he said at a news conference after seeing a relief airlift leave for the Philippines at the Royal Malaysian Air Force airbase in Subang here yesterday.

There are fears that an estimated 10,000 people may have died in the storm on Friday.

On the delay in despatching the aid, he said RMAF aircraft were not granted permission to land in the devastated areas earlier.

He said 20 Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) members would also be sent to get a firsthand look at the disaster.

KP1M president Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said the KP1M 38-member delegation comprising volunteers, medics and journalists would work alongside RMAF personnel in the typhoon-ravaged areas.

"The relief aid airlifted today could cater for about 7,000 families for a month while another consignment to be flown tomorrow could help 10,000 more families.

"I hope we will be able to help between 20,000 and 25,000 families during this mission. A temporary medical tent will be pitched in the disaster area to hand out medicines," he added.

A RMAF C-130 aircraft carrying 14 tonnes of food, medicine, clothing, tents and infant nutrition products left the RMAF airbase for Tacloban, the Philippines, at 8.36am yesterday while another aircraft flying relief team members departed about half an hour later.

THE cost overrun of a National Youth Day celebration function organised by the Youth and Sports Ministry has been blamed on the payment made to a K-Pop group, said minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said initially, the ministry had expected sponsorship from private parties to cover all activities during the celebration last year.

"However, there was a shortfall of sponsorship, which resulted in the ministry forking out its own funds to cover expenses," he said in his winding-up speech on Budget 2014 to questions related to his ministry.

Khairy said his ministry had allocated a total of RM27.5mil to cover the event's activities and programmes.

To a question from Khalid Samad (PAS-Shah Alam) on why the ministry had decided to bring the K-Pop group to perform when it is against the Islamic principles, Khairy said that the group was successful in attracting non-Muslim youth to attend the celebration.

On a separate matter, Khairy said that Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is expected to announce the National Football Development Plan in January 2014.

The plan is a collaboration between the Education Ministry and Football Association of Malaysia to identify youth aged between seven and 17, to be picked as new talents for the national football team.

During the debate on the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry, its minister Datuk Hasan Malek said a new databank will be created to monitor the cost of items before the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is implemented.

It is to ensure that businesses will not take advantage of the GST to raise their prices.

"The database mechanism will be used as a reference point for the Government to check whether the prices of items had been manipulated," he added.

Hasan said the ministry has also set up a central committee together with the Customs Department in anticipation of the GST.

"It will function as a body to look at aspects of the laws, enforcement as well as data collection," he said in his winding-up speech.

Hasan also gave the assurance that the Government will continue to take action against errant businesses and monitor the prices of items nationwide after GST comes into force.

COLOMBO: Malaysia will still take part in Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) despite calls to boycott the summit by certain quarters who have questioned Sri Lanka's human right records.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said the Government took note of the opposing views but stressed it was the prerogative of the Government to decide whether to attend the summit, which begins tomorrow.

"We have taken note of opposing voices but we have to look at the bigger picture of the benefits (of CHOGM) and see how the reconciliatory process is going on in Sri Lanka," he told reporters here yesterday.

Anifah was asked on calls by certain quarters in the country pressuring Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to forgo CHOGM in light of Canada and India's decision not to participate in the event.

He also said Malaysia would be able to contribute towards international security by promoting moderation via its Global Movements of Moderates, which is in line with the aim set during CHOGM in Australia two years ago.

"We look forward to continue working together with our Commonwealth partners to promote moderation as an approach to tackle global challenges and threats to international peace and security.

"We believe that whatever the conflict, it should be settled through moderation and dialogue," he added.

He said Najib's attendance and active participation in CHOGM was very significant also as the country would be able to share its experience as Malaysia strives towards the high-income and advanced nation status by 2020.

"At the same time, we can learn from other Commonwealth countries on ways and means that could contribute to improving our efforts to achieve Vision 2020," he said.

Anifah also said Malaysia was ready to host CHOGM in 2019.

He added that Najib, who will be accompanied by Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, will also attend a dinner hosted by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and a state banquet by Sri Lanka's president.

CHOGM is a voluntary association comprising 53 former British territories with a population of 2.1 billion.

PATNA, India, Nov 14, 2013 (AFP) - India's Mahabodhi temple, one of the world's holiest Buddhist shrines, is to have its dome inlaid with 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of gold donated by Thailand's king and other devotees, officials said Thursday.

The precious metal arrived late Monday on a special flight from Bangkok and is under armed guard at the temple in Bodh Gaya, a holy town about 100 kilometres (64 miles) from Patna, the capital of Bihar state.

"A 40-member team including experts and two dozen commandos from Thailand have arrived at Bodh Gaya with gold in 13 boxes," Arvind Kumar Singh, a member of the temple management committee, told AFP.

The gold would be worth around $14.5 million at the current international price.

The work at the complex, which was rocked by a series of crude bombs in July, was likely to be finished in about a month.

The Mahabodhi temple, built about 1,500 years ago, is a UNESCO world heritage site and marks the place where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment in 531 BC.

Along with temples, dozens of monasteries housing monks from around the world are located near the complex which has a celebrated 80-feet-tall (24-metre) statue of the Buddha.

After his meditations beneath a holy tree, the Buddha is said to have devoted the rest of his life to teaching.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama makes frequent trips to the complex, which attracts visitors during the peak tourist season from October to March.

N. Dorjee, secretary of the temple committee, said about 100 kg of gold had been donated by the Thai king and the rest by Buddhist devotees.

The decision to offer gold for the dome was taken last year by Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej after which permission was sought from the local authorities, Dorjee said.

"The first phase of the work involved chemical treatment which was completed in August. It prepared the foundation for gold plating," he told AFP.

"Stairs have been now installed around the temple's dome to enable experts to reach the top of the structure and inlay it with thin gold sheets."

In July nine small bombs exploded at the temple complex, wounding two monks.

The blasts were allegedly carried out by the Indian Mujahideen, a home-grown extremist group, in retaliation for violence against Muslims by Buddhists in neighbouring Myanmar.

Gaya district magistrate Bala Murugan D. said extra security had been provided at the temple complex to ensure the smooth progress of the gold-inlaying work.

"We have deployed additional security. The work is also being videographed as after all it involves a costly metal," he said.

THE Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) – Singapore's first undersea road, costliest expressway and one with the widest tunnels – will open on Dec 29, four years after the S$4.3bil (RM11bil) project started.

The 5km expressway, at S$860mil (RM2.2bil) per kilometre, has a 420m section that goes under the sea-bed just south of the Marina Barrage.

Linking the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway to the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), it will allow swift east-west travel. Drivers currently using the East Coast Parkway (ECP) to join up with the AYE can switch to the MCE from Dec 29.

The ECP will be downgraded to an arterial road that serves the Marina downtown. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Taiwanese troupe draws
on a flood that damaged
its studio to create multi-disciplinary performance,
Into The Flood.

FLOOD water from Taiwan's Tamsui river rushing into his studio in the wake of a typhoon left Sun Son Theatre member Chang Wei Loy feeling oddly calm.

"Our place was flooded. Everyone stayed overnight to pack all the instruments as we tried to minimise our losses," recalls Chang about a 2007 flood that swept through the troupe's riverside studio.

"When the place we used to live was covered with water, I had a strange feeling of calm instead of being nervous. I had a moment of silence and peacefulness. I think that the disaster was not a punishment but to wash away our inner chaos and uncertainty," he reasons.

Finding purpose in the chaos, Chang used the incident as inspiration for the Sun Son Theatre's folk musical Into The Flood, which will be hitting our shores at the Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC) next week (Nov 22-24). This is the troupe's fifth time in Malaysia, having been here earlier this year as part of the Kakiseni Festival in April.

Initially unsure of how to tell his story, Chang researched various deluge myths, noticing that Great Floods were a recurring theme throughout history. However, nothing quite fit, as most cultures considered floods to be divine punishment.

"Then I came across the Bunun tribe (a Taiwanese aboriginal tribe) story, which treated floods as an inevitability, not a form of punishment," shares Chang, over an e-mail interview.

The legend tells of a young man who, on advice of a wise toad, embarks on a journey to seek help from a mythical crab to stop the floods caused by a snake eel who is blocking the river water from draining.

"There are so many similar parts between real life and the legend. The sacred animals in the legend such as the Crustacean and the Toad, are the animals commonly seen along Tamsui riverside, and the reason for the flood is the clogged drain caused by the Snake Eel that ate the garbage disposal," he says.

Chang assures that Into The Flood is not a preachy eco-story. In writing it, the 33-year-old drew on his memories of pre-television community storytelling to transform the disaster into a light-hearted adventure.

Chang, who is both director and lead, calls the end product a collaborative effort though, as the Sun Son Theatre practices "collective creation" where actors are expected to improvise, from embellishing his voice onto a scene to deciding the style of music.

"To me, the 'attitude of playfulness' is vital in theatre creation. This theatre work begins with 'games'. I cannot be an observer without participating in the 'game'," explains Chang.

Artistic director Ng Chong Leong will combine live music, song, dance and puppet play to bring the young man's adventure to life. He says that no subtitles are used as there is no specific language in the songs.

"Sun Son Theatre performers are percussionists, singers, and dancers as well," says Ng, adding that they are expected to be able to all those things at the same time too!

Despite this, he firmly disagrees that there could be too many elements at one time, to the point it crowds the stage.

"To me, saying 'too much' happens when we 'think too much'. Do not think too much, but react spontaneously, follow one's emotion, feel the heartbeat, the space, the air, the partner and the moment during the performance," says Ng.

For those curious about Sun Son Theatre's approach to performing, the troupe is offering music, vocal and movement workshops.

"We have workshops because sometimes the audience are curious about our versatile actors; they want to know more about our training behind the stage," explains Ng, who studied at the Malaysian Institute of Art in 1993.

* Into The Flood will be performed at the Damansara Performing Arts Centre, Empire Damansara, Jalan PJU 8/8, Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya, Selangor from Nov 22 to 24 at 8.30pm, with a 3pm show on Nov 24. Tickets are priced at RM 58 (adult) and RM 38 (student/senior citizen/disabled), with free tickets for children.

For tickets, call 03-4065 0001 or 4065 0002 or visit www.dpac.com.my. The Sun Son Theatre will also be hosting workshops on Nov 23 and 24.

Francis Bacon triptych sold for record US$142.4mil at Christie's sale to New York gallery.

A TRIPTYCH by British painter Francis Bacon, Three Studies Of Lucian Freud (pic), sold for US$142.4mil (RM457mil) on Tuesday, smashing the world record for the most expensive piece of art auctioned.

The work by the 20th century figurative artist, who lived from 1909 to 1992, had never before been put under the hammer until Christie's flagship evening sale. It was bought by a New York gallery.

"What's amazing for us to see is obviously the highest price ever paid at auction for a work of art, the Francis Bacon," said Brett Gorvy, head of post-war and contemporary art at Christie's.

The most expensive artwork ever was a Cezanne that sold for US$259mil (RM777mil) in 2011. But that was a private sale, not an auction.

Gorvy named Acquavella Galleries, which is based in New York, as the buyer at a spectacular auction that broke a string of records and totalled sales of US$691.6mil (RM2.2bil), the highest in auction history.

Hammered to an outburst of applause, the Bacon surpassed the previous record of US$119.9mil (RM360mil) fetched by Edvard Munch's iconic The Scream by rival house Sotheby's in New York in May 2012.

Bidding lasted six minutes and was split by would-be buyers on three continents, opening at US$80mil (RM256mil) and escalating in seconds.

The triptych, the only one not in a museum to date and executed almost 25 years after Bacon and Freud met, is the most expensive single lot offered in the New York November auction season.

Officials said it was particularly special because Freud, a close friend of Bacon, went on to become a hugely important artist himself in later years.

The previous record for a Bacon painting was US$86mil (RM258mil) in 2008.

Christie's sold a total of 63 lots of post-war and contemporary art for US$691.6mil, a record in auction history.

In total, Christie's broke a further 10 world records.

It sold the giant orange Balloon Dog sculpture by Jeff Koons for US$58.4mil (RM187mil), making history for the sale of a work by a living artist and history for a piece of contemporary sculpture.

The giant orange Balloon Dog sculpture by Jeff Koons was sold for US$58.4mil (RM187mil). – AFP

It is one of five different coloured such pieces by the American, who has most recently collaborated with Lady Gaga providing artwork for the pop diva's third album Artpop, which was released on Monday.

"We're also incredibly proud to see the highest price achieved for a living artist, Jeff Koons, well deserved for the Balloon Dog," Gorvy told a news conference.

The statue, on display outside the auction house in Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, was eagerly snapped by tourists and art lovers outside. Several police officers mounted on horses sat guard late Tuesday.

Tribute To Yao Min: Chronicle Of Splendour II aims to attract a new generation of fans to the Chinese music legend's work.

WHEN discussing shidaiqu or classical Chinese folk jazz fusion music of a bygone era, names of famed singers like Zhou Xuan, Bai Guang, Li Xiang Lan, Yao Lee, Bai Hong, and Gong Qiu Xia come to mind. But few would know of Yao Lee's brother Yao Min (1917-1967), the gentleman who composed the melodies that made these songstresses so well-loved.

A songwriter of the shidaiqu era in 1930s-40s Shanghai through the 1950s-60s mainstream years in Hong Kong, Yao Min was the forerunner of Chinese musical giants, being the first winner of the Best Movie Musical Award at the Asia Pacific Film Festival, as well as the Best Movie Score at the First Golden Horse Film Festival.

Inspired by Yao Min's story, local music and theatre professional Yang Wei Han hopes to "re-introduce" the works of this musical genius to local music lovers.

Getting the big picture: Inspired by Yao Min's story, local music and theatre professional Yang Wei Han hopes to 're-introduce' the works of this musical genius to local music lovers. Yang is pictured with Yao Min's 91-year-old sister Yao Lee in Hong Kong as he researched work for the Tribute To Yao Min: Chronicle Of Splendour II concert.

With that, Han Production is back with a brand new stage show in honour of Yao Lee's brother titled Tribute To Yao Min: Chronicle Of Splendour II, which opens today atBentley Music Auditorium in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

"Yao Min was a paradox to many; he was a major mover in the Chinese music industry. Yet, he remained a mystery to many. He was arguably the most prolific composer of popular Chinese music, having penned more than 3,000 compositions, many of which remain popular till today.

"But the unassuming gentleman was such a low-key personality that most people did not know much about him. In fact, there were some who thought he was a girl, because of his feminine-sounding name," said Yang during a recent interview in Kuala Lumpur.

Yang worked tirelessly with music director Tay and choreographer Leng Poh Gee to create a unique stage divided into three sections to equally showcase the singer, musicians and dancers.

Liau Siau Suan, who is based in Australia, will be a special guest to sing the English songs in the concert.

Led by Leng, the dance segments include performances by Adeline Chew, Chan Kean Yew and Queency Manjalip.

While planning for a better representation of Yao Min's large body of work, Yang frequently flew to Hong Kong to seek his Yao Min's 91-year-old sister Yao Lee's guidance.

With Yao Lee's help, Yang selected some 40 songs for the two-hour show, which is divided into seven segments; these include soundtracks and even English songs.

For the English segment, Yang invited veteran singer Liau, who is currently based in Australia.

"I will be performing five English songs, plus one with Yang and another in a group," shared Liau who has been featured in musicals such as Kiss Of The Spider Woman and Butterfly Lovers.

"It won't be just all songs and singing, we will also delve into the history behind each song and relate them to the milestones in his short-but-spectacular musical career," shared Yang, who also did the stage design and created video-mapping for a unique concert experience.

To illustrate that, both Yang and Liau spoke of Gong Xi Gong Xi (literally Congratulations! Congratulations!), one of the most familiar festive Mandarin songs we hear blasting from every Chinese home and shopping mall during the Lunar New Year.

Also known by its English title Wishing You Happiness and Prosperity, Gong Xi Gong Xi was sung by Yao Min and his sister Yao Lee.

"Although Gong Xi Gong Xi is currently used as a common Lunar New Year greeting and to celebrate the arrival of spring, the song was originally written by Chen Gexin (also known as Qing Yu) in 1945 in Shanghai to celebrate the defeat of Japanese troops and the liberation of the Chinese people at the end of the Sino-Japanese War," said the duo as they broke into song.

Last year, Han Production successfully presented 10 performances of the musical Yao Lee – The Legendary Rose to critical acclaim and an enthusiastic response from the public. It was nominated for eight Cameronian Awards, and ended up winning three: Best Stage Design, Best Lighting Design, and Best Audio And Sound.

Having observed how the show enabled family togetherness and respect for elders motivated Yang to go ahead with Han Production's vision to make Chronicle Of Splendour a long-term project.

*Tribute to Yao Min: Chronicle of Splendour II will be playing at Bentley Music Auditorium, Wisma Bentley Music, 3, Jalan PJU 7/2, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor from today to Saturday at 8.30pm and on Sunday at 3pm. Tickets are priced at RM100, RM150 and RM200, with a 20% discount for students, senior citizens and the disabled. For details and ticket reservation, contact Han Production (019-2012 707/ hanzhizuo@gmail.com) or visit www.facebook.com/HanProduction. Takings from the concert will be donated to Spina Bifida Association of Malaysia and the fund for A Journey Of Self-Discovery documentary project.

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PATNA, India, Nov 14, 2013 (AFP) - India's Mahabodhi temple, one of the world's holiest Buddhist shrines, is to have its dome inlaid with 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of gold donated by Thailand's king and other devotees, officials said Thursday.

The precious metal arrived late Monday on a special flight from Bangkok and is under armed guard at the temple in Bodh Gaya, a holy town about 100 kilometres (64 miles) from Patna, the capital of Bihar state.

"A 40-member team including experts and two dozen commandos from Thailand have arrived at Bodh Gaya with gold in 13 boxes," Arvind Kumar Singh, a member of the temple management committee, told AFP.

The gold would be worth around $14.5 million at the current international price.

The work at the complex, which was rocked by a series of crude bombs in July, was likely to be finished in about a month.

The Mahabodhi temple, built about 1,500 years ago, is a UNESCO world heritage site and marks the place where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment in 531 BC.

Along with temples, dozens of monasteries housing monks from around the world are located near the complex which has a celebrated 80-feet-tall (24-metre) statue of the Buddha.

After his meditations beneath a holy tree, the Buddha is said to have devoted the rest of his life to teaching.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama makes frequent trips to the complex, which attracts visitors during the peak tourist season from October to March.

N. Dorjee, secretary of the temple committee, said about 100 kg of gold had been donated by the Thai king and the rest by Buddhist devotees.

The decision to offer gold for the dome was taken last year by Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej after which permission was sought from the local authorities, Dorjee said.

"The first phase of the work involved chemical treatment which was completed in August. It prepared the foundation for gold plating," he told AFP.

"Stairs have been now installed around the temple's dome to enable experts to reach the top of the structure and inlay it with thin gold sheets."

In July nine small bombs exploded at the temple complex, wounding two monks.

The blasts were allegedly carried out by the Indian Mujahideen, a home-grown extremist group, in retaliation for violence against Muslims by Buddhists in neighbouring Myanmar.

Gaya district magistrate Bala Murugan D. said extra security had been provided at the temple complex to ensure the smooth progress of the gold-inlaying work.

"We have deployed additional security. The work is also being videographed as after all it involves a costly metal," he said.

THE Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) – Singapore's first undersea road, costliest expressway and one with the widest tunnels – will open on Dec 29, four years after the S$4.3bil (RM11bil) project started.

The 5km expressway, at S$860mil (RM2.2bil) per kilometre, has a 420m section that goes under the sea-bed just south of the Marina Barrage.

Linking the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway to the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), it will allow swift east-west travel. Drivers currently using the East Coast Parkway (ECP) to join up with the AYE can switch to the MCE from Dec 29.

The ECP will be downgraded to an arterial road that serves the Marina downtown. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

SYDNEY, Nov 13, 2013 (AFP) - Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd (pic) announced an end to his chequered political career Wednesday, quitting politics two months after being ousted from office by Tony Abbott.

The charismatic 55-year-old Labor stalwart, who led Australia twice and was foreign minister in Julia Gillard's government, said he would leave parliament at the end of the week.

"This has been the product of much soul-searching for us as a family over the last few months," he told parliament in an emotional evening speech in which he had to pause several times to compose himself.

"The decision that I have made has not been taken lightly.

"But for me, my family is everything, always has been, always will be, which is why I will not be continuing as a member of this parliament beyond this week."

Since being soundly defeated by Abbott in September 7 elections, senior figures within Labor have urged him to quit, saying he would be a destabilising influence after three years of bitter infighting within the party.

The Mandarin-speaking Rudd stood down as Labor leader after his election loss but remained the local member for his Queensland electorate of Griffith.

He was elected prime minister in the 2007 general election in a landslide defeat of John Howard, but within his first term he was dumped by colleagues fed up with his style of management and demoted to foreign minister.

There were claims of egotism - even megalomania - behind the scenes and a series of policy mis-steps gave party members the pretext to depose him in shock coup that delivered Gillard to office.

His sudden downfall mystified the Australian public who had elected him, and this, coupled with the growing unpopularity of Gillard, prompted Labor to return to Rudd's leadership in June to try and salvage the party vote in 2013 polls.

In announcing his retirement from political life, Rudd thanked the people of Australia for electing him as their prime minister.

"To have served as prime minister of Australia has been a great honour afforded to very few in our country's history," he said.

His arch foe Abbott said Rudd had been one of the biggest figures in Australia politics in recent decades and wished him well.

"As a political opponent, but as someone who has known the member for Griffith quite well for a long time, I salute him and I wish him and his family all the best for the future," he said.

In his future life, Rudd said he planned to support causes for homelessness and organ donation and establish a "national apology foundation" to aid indigenous Australians.

He also intends to remain active in the international community "where I can make a genuine contribution to peace and stability, global economic governance and sustainable development, including climate change". - AFP

Modern lifestyles and increase in technology are affecting our children's health.

A NEW study finds that all those video games, tablets, and smartphones could spell serious back troubles for growing youngsters, who are increasingly addicted to their gadgets.

Solution: get up and get moving, kids.

Young people face a "healthcare time bomb" of neck and back pain linked to sedentary lifestyles behind their computers, games, and gadgets, the researchers said.

The study was commissioned by Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board in Britain after finding that the number of children treated for back and neck pain in the country had doubled in just six months, The Telegraph reports.

Researchers interviewed more than 200 school-aged kids, finding that 64% of kids 11-18 said that they suffered from back pain, with 90% saying that they had not told anyone about it. Among the younger kids, aged 7-10, 72% said they suffered from back problems.

"Modern lifestyles and the increase in technology are having detrimental effects on our children's musculoskeletal health and, if not addressed in school and at home now, will have far-reaching effects for our children, the future working generation and society," researcher Lorna Taylor told The Telegraph. "This is a health care time bomb."

"It's vital we instil good habits and provide resources so children can be comfortable, be able to concentrate, reach their full potential and work and play sport as they decide, and not be limited by preventable disability and a life in pain." – AFP Relaxnews